Brave Fire lose in grandstand finish
THE Townsville Fire have shown they won’t lay down even with the WNBL finals out of reach after a stunning second-half comeback in last night’s 80-68 loss to Canberra at Townsville Stadium.
The Capitals underlined their championship credentials as they notched their seventh win in a row to also lock in a home semi-final, but it wasn’t without an almighty scare from the home side.
Points from turnovers cruelled the Fire as they trailed by 21 points at halftime, with Canberra stars Leilani Mitchell (20 points, 7 assists) and Kelsey Griffin (10 points, 9 assists) leading the way.
But the Fire regrouped as Laurin Mincy (15 points, 5 assists) and Zitina Aokuso (13 points, 6 rebounds) sparked a brilliant third quarter to give their side the chance to snatch a late upset.
The Fire scored the first points of the match through Darcee Garbin (10 points, 8 rebounds), but Mitchell hit straight back for the Capitals from long range as they made a blistering 15-0 run.
The visitors were knocking down everything in the opening quarter including 5/7 triples before the Fire staged a small fightback to make it 31-15 to Canberra at the break.
Casey Samuels (9 points) hit a big three as the home side started to find a rhythm in the second term, but Canberra’s defence continued to make life difficult in the paint.
Aokuso made a late charge for Townsville heading into halftime, but Mitchell found a way to get a shot off just before the buzzer as Canberra’s lead pushed out to 52-31.
The Fire needed something special to get back into the contest which is where Mincy stepped up to spark a 9-2 run and give her side a much-needed confidence boost.
Mincy, Aokuso, and Tess Madgen (11 points, 7 assists) continued the roll as the Fire outscored the Capitals 22-13 for the third term to get it back to 65-53 and set up a grandstand finish.
Townsville had all the momentum with the home crowd behind them as Samuels and Mikhaela Donnelly (4 points, 6 assists) helped slash the margin to just six points midway through the final quarter.
But that was as close as the Fire would get as Mitchell and Griffin wrestled back control for the Capitals to wrap up a 3-0 series sweep over the Fire.
The Fire will be in action again tomorrow afternoon as they look to avoid another series sweep against the Rangers in Dandenong.